Skinny Girl Nutrition Bars

I truly don't know how I wound up with a product from Skinny Girl in my snack pantry.  Sure, I love to try all kinds of snacks, and find bars handy to have around when I'm on the go, but this isn't really a brand that I'd seek out.

"With Skinnygirl™, you can have it all!  A balanced lifestyle with delicious products that help you celebrate the things you love. No guilt. No hassles."

Frankly, just reading their marketing makes me recoil slightly.  I'm all for balance, but, they go a bit too far for my tastes, and their iconic, well, skinny girl logo .... shutter.  

 

Anyway, I believe the brand name came to fame originally for low-cal cocktail recipes (and later, pre-made, ready to drink, supermarket cocktails), but they've dabbled in many different product offerings, including different supplements.  I tried only the nutrition bars, but they also currently make a line of salad dressings with only 5-10 calories per serving (huh, really?) and cocktail inspired preserves (again, so low cal it makes you wonder ...).

Bars

"Tasty Nutrition Bars"

The bars all are 170 calories or less, and have 6g of protein or more.  Like many similar products, the flavors of the Skinny Girl sound promising: chocolate chip cookie dough. Chocolate peanut butter with sea salt.  Etc.  Etc.

I rather assumed that they'd go the way of all other products that have my leave favorite ingredient, soy protein isolate, in them: awful!  I was pleasantly surprised.

Dark Chocolate Pretzel.

"SkinnyGirl Dark Chocolate Almond with Coconut Protein Bars offer all the benefits you want without compromising the decadent flavor that you love."

At a first glance, this at least didn't look like an awful nutrition bar.  I could see real chunks of peanut.  There was chocolate drizzled over the top, and the entire back side was coated in chocolate.

So I broke off a chunk.  I could tell the bar was made up of some actual ingredients.  Oats, nuts, bits of pretzel.  It didn't have a strange consistency.

It was ... well, a granola bar.  I liked the crunch from the peanuts, and the peanut flavor obviously.  It was a bit sticky in a good way.  The chocolate didn't taste like wax.

But a granola bar isn't something I'm ever going to get crazy excited about.  And, don't get me wrong, this wasn't actually made with "real" pure ingredients.  The ingredient list is quite long.  There are certainly some normal ingredients in there, like the peanuts, oats, almonds, and sugar, but there are plenty of other slightly less appealing things (like the long list of ingredients that make up the "chocolate coating" and the gluten-free pretzels).  But if you like granola bars, and want to try another one out, these aren't bad.  ***.

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Zero&

San Francisco has no shortage of bubble tea shops.   New ones crop up all the time.  Most don't really catch my eye, but one, Zero& (or 0&), did - and not just because the name is awkward.

"We’re proud to offer the highest quality, most unique hand-made fruit beverages on the market today. From our idea to your smile, we put lots of love and careful attention in each item. We hope you enjoy our work as much as we enjoy bringing it to you!"

Zero& is a small chain, with several stores in San Francisco, and others throughout the bay area.  The name, and concept, behind Zero& refers to the lack of additives - 0 additives. 0 artificial flavors. 0 calories sugar.  This means fruit drinks made with entire whole fruits - 20 whole lychees in the "lychee blossom", a whole coconut in the "coconut zero", half a pound of strawberries in the "strawberry marble", and so on.  Real ube and taro, no powders.  A lineup of drinks without a slew of unhealthy mix-ins or toppings.

But none of that really was enough to make me pay attention.  I've tried other healthier bubble tea shops before, like Aura, and I wasn't particularly impressed.  What drew me in to Zero& was actually NOT their drinks, but rather, their partnership with Hanabi Bakery, and some fantastic sounding pastries and cakes.  Now that sounds more like me, right?  You know how much I love my baked goods.

My first "visit" to a Zero& location was actually virtual, when I ordered from the Hayes Valley location online for delivery via DoorDash.  I placed my order online for desserts: a mini box cake, a croissant, and a cooler bag (mine had just ripped, seemed like a great coincidence that they had them on DoorDash!).  I put in my preferences to contact me if anything was out of stock (so they wouldn't just refund), so I could pick a different flavor/variety of the item.  I'd had such a hard time narrowing down my choices, I would have been fine picking my second choices.

Alas, when my Dasher checked out, I got the receipt, and ... they cancelled the mini cake entirely, and charged me for the cooler bag, but, it didn't arrive.  So in the end, I ordered 3 items, and only got one.  Sadness.  

I didn't really like my item all that much, but I was still drawn in to the concept and menu, so a few months later, when Zero& opened a shop in the Westfield mall near my house, I visited again, this time, in person.  In addition to trying more desserts, I also finally tried a drink.  The queue to place an order at the kiosk was looong, and the wait even longer.  They do have clear screens showing how many drinks are in the queue, and which ones they are working on, along with time estimates, so I was able to see that it was going to take nearly half an hour, once I finally got to the front to place my order.  In the future, I'll certainly just order online in advance, which I did my next visit.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Drinks

The drink lineup at Zero& is a bit different from many bubble tea shops.  While they do still have some common drinks, most are fairly curated and unique.  They do not have a huge lineup of toppings, only regular or crystal boba, and grape or lychee jelly.  That is it.  Some drinks come with cheese foam, but only a few, and you can't add it on to any others.  The only customizations you can make for the most part are sweetness (regular or "less", cane or zero calorie sugar - which is $0.50 more) and milk (regular milk, oat milk, or for some, milk tea base).  I wish they had more flexibility.

Cold

For cold drinks, Zero& has several categories: fruit (blended, whole fruit based drinks), Milk Tea (only some of which actually contain tea), and Pure Tea (actual teas).  You can customize the ice level in these to regular, less, or none.

Ube Taro Milk Tea (no caffeine).
Iced. Less Sweet. Add Boba. $5.95 + $0.50.

"Ube Purple Yam, Freshly Steamed Taro Paste, Fresh Grade A Milk."

Since I love ube, and taro, it should come as no surprise that my first drink was the ube taro milk tea.  Yes, ube and taro in the same drink?  I'm in!  It sounded perhaps a bit like the ube milk tea with taro puff cream and taro balls I got from Happy Lemon.  I added boba, and asked for less sweet.  I kept the regular milk.

It was quite clear this drink was made with real ingredients and not powders.  It was still a lovely shade of purple, even without the artificial ingredients.  The ube flavor was fairly subtle, but I really liked the generous amount of lightly sweetened taro paste at the base.  Since I got it less sweet, it was not overwhelmingly sweet.  The boba were fresh, not stuck together, had a light chew.

Overall, clearly a drink made with quality ingredients, although I did wish for a bit more strong flavor.  I'd consider the lychee jellies with this in the future, but really, I wanted to be able to add the cheese foam!  ***.

Baby Peach (Seasonal). $7.45 + $0.50.
Add Boba.

"Fresh Honey Peach, Jasmine Green Tea, Dragonfruit , Sea Salt Cheese Foam."

A companion went for one of the blended fruit drinks, made with a green tea base, peaches, and dragonfruit.  He added boba.  This is one of the lucky drinks available with the cheese foam.

This drink looked great!  Vibrant colors, such layers.  I didn't try it, but he enjoyed it, and said it reminded him a drink he had in China.

Lychee Blossom. $5.95.
No Sugar, Add Crystal Boba +$0.50.

"20 + Real Lychees, Edible Rose Petals."

My next visit, I went fruity, quite out of character for me, but, I wanted to try something quite different, and I had the impression that the real fruit drinks are where Zero& really shines.  I opted for the lychee drink, which I think is literally just made with a slew of lychees blended with ice.  I didn't add any additional sugar, since I knew lychees would be quite sweet on their own.  I added crystal boba, just to have some texture in there.

The drink was really nicely made, perfectly blended.  Really smooth slush.  It was also quite sweet, as, well, it was mostly just lychees.  A lovely sweetness, but, quite sweet nonetheless.  I can't imagine adding sugar to this.   I ended up adding some water to mine to water it down a bit once the sweetness got to be a bit much several gulps in.  It was the kind of drink that made me want to be on a beach, and, uh, spike it.  Drinking it in San Francisco dreary weather didn't seem quite appropriate.

I quite liked the crystal boba, they were firm but not hard, none stuck together, and complimented the lychee quite well, they almost seemed like lychee bits, but they were my added boba.  I definitely recommend that pairing.  The rose petals on top were visually pretty, but didn't add much to the drink.

I also did add sea salt cheese foam (+$1), but it was accidentally left off my drink.  I was able to get it on the side instead, and that worked out better anyway, as I could taste it separately.  It was a fairly lackluster version of cheese foam - not particularly cheesy, not particularly salty, not particularly great consistency.  I love good cheese foam, but this was pretty mediocre, more like, uh, slimier whipped cream? I did like it with the sweet slush though, nice to have the richness against the sweet lightness.

Overall, not the right drink for the setting, but a good drink, and very well made.  ***+.

Creme Brulee Muddy Milk. $5.45.
Less Ice, Add Boba +$0.50.

"Torched Crème Brûlée Cloud, Fresh Grade A Milk."

A friend got this, and, obviously, given my love of crème brulée, I *had* to try it, particularly when his response to "How is it?" was barely coming up for air to say "yum!", as he spooned up all the crème brulée goodness (and yes it came with a tiny spoon just for those purposes).

I tried only the topping, and I see why he enjoyed it.  It was a rich custard, more like a thicker anglaise than a more set actual crème brulée, which makes sense, given that it was on top of a drink after all.  So it was kinda thick, but fairly runny, and tasted deeply like custard.  If that doesn't sound great, it is just me poorly describing it, after all, haven't we all just wanted to lap up a vat of creme anglaise before?  It was exactly that, just with a lightly bruléed top, so it had a slight caramelization and crisp top.  Very, very tasty.

The rest of the drink was the muddy milk, I think brown sugar syrup sweetened milk, but I didn't try it.  No sweetness modifications are possible for this drink, but you could opt for oat milk if you wish.  He seemed to like it.

I'd definitely consider getting this myself in the future, although this is definitely a heavier, dessert style drink.  **** for the topping for sure. 

Hot

Most of Zero& drinks are iced or blended, but they have a few warm options too: warm versions of the ube taro, cream brulee, and teapuccino milk teas, or hot versions of the jasmine blossom or peach oolong.  No warm fruity options.

Black Sesame Blizzard. $6.45 + $0.50.
Hot. Oat Milk. Less Sweet. Add Crystal Boba.

"House Black Sesame Paste, Fresh Grade A Milk, Signature Black Sesame Cream."

The black sesame blizzard is a brand new drink on the Zero& menu, available in both iced and warm versions.  Even though I love taro and ube, I went for this one day, as I do quite like black sesame, and it is a more rare find.  I get black sesame whenever I can, like in dumplings at Din Tai Fung, or ice cream like with the shaved ice at Ice Monster in Tokyo, excellent hard serve at Polly Ann here in SF, or creamy, dreamy soft serve at places like Soft Swerve in NYC, Chanoma Cafe or Rice Workshop in Sydney.  Of course, I've had other drink versions too, like the taro sesame milk at Original Royaltea in Sydney or black sesame latte at K Tea Cafe in Sunnyvale.

It was a cold, rainy, gloomy day, and I opted for the hot version, as I was looking to warm up, and be comforted.  I went for less sweet, and made with oat milk, and added crystal boba.  I think this was my first ever warm drink with boba added.

My drink clearly had been made a while before my number was called as it was barely lukewarm when I got it, even though I was standing by waiting and waiting for it (it took 20+ minutes!).  I have to dock Zero& a few points for that, as it really would have been better warmer.  That said, I did still really enjoy it.

The drink is made with housemade black sesame paste, which I found lining the inside of my cup too. Again, no powders here, only real ingredients.  It was thick and rich, and had a really strong nutty flavor.  A sophisticated nutty though, akin to tahini.  I had oat milk as the base, and that was a nice match for it.  It was lightly sweet, just as I had asked for (only regular or light are options, no option to have no sweet).

On top is black sesame whipped cream, which melted in since I had it warm, like it would in a hot chocolate.  I think this would work better on the iced version, as mine really had mostly melted in by the time I got it (again, also likely due to it sitting there so long?).  Still, the sesame whipped cream was tasty.  The crystal boba I was a bit hesitant to add in a warm drink, not quite knowing how that would work (would they melt?) but actually it was fine.  They stayed nice and soft, not gummy, not clumped together, lightly sweet, and fun to suck up.  I suspect lychee jellies would be a nice match too if you wanted sweeter.  

Overall, this was warm, creamy, nutty, and comforting.  Exactly what I was looking for.  Only downside (besides the lukewarmness)?  Black teeth after I drank it!

****.

Desserts (By Hanabi)

"Delicate desserts, beautifully designed and handcrafted with love. Healthy and mind-glowingly delicious."

"Our vision is to bring customers a refined handcrafted dessert selection with all-natural ingredients and modern designs. Our menu is composed of modern French mousse cakes, delicate desserts and bread inspired by flavors from different cultures around the world. Every product crafted by Hanabi kitchen is lovingly handmade by our trained bakers, after multiple rounds of testings and improvements before presenting to customers." 

The baked goods and desserts at Zero& all come from Hanabi Bakery, a small establishment founded by a pastry chef who had worked at Craftsmen & Wolves and several Michelin starred restaurants.  I don't think the bakery has a retail storefront of their own, but their goods are sold at several other places around town, and they do a lot of catering.

Baked Goods

Hanabi makes some pretty awesome sounding breads, including savory korean garlic bread and a croque monsieur croissant, and filled sweet croissants like ube almond, pandan almond, thai tea, and more.  Oh, and don't get me started on the sound of the taro pork sung croissant, an all butter croissant stuffed with fresh taro paste, kewpie mayo, and covered in pork sung and furikake.  Zero& doesn't carry the entire collection, but, most of it.

Sesame Almond Croissant. $5.95.

"Butter Croissant; Sesame Almond Cream; Almond Slices."

Given my adoration of black sesame, it should come as no surprise that the first baked good I had from Hanabi was the black sesame almond croissant.

I knew before I ordered, from seeing photos online, that Hanabi's style of croissants isn't a bready, lofty style, they are more dense, flatter.  I think these are made like classic double baked almond croissants, just, with different pastes inside (and obviously, on top).

The croissant was ... fine.  It was very flaky, very messy, and clearly high butter content.  Best heated up.  Not really a croissant I'd rave about, no amazing layers, but, better than an average cafe croissant.  

On top was baked on sesame paste and tons of sesame seeds, both black and white.  The sesame flavor was there, but I didn't taste anything almond-like.  The menu description said "almond slices", but I didn't see any on top, nor inside.  The seeds on top made an amazing mess as I cut or bit into the croissant.

Think of the messiest, flakiness croissant you've had, the kind where you have rubble all around you, and this was that, just, magnified.  In addition to shards of croissant, there were sesame seeds all around me.

Sesame Almond Croissant: Inside.

Inside was a very thin layer of more sesame paste.  I was really let down by how little paste there was, as it was pretty easily lost.  I also realized that I really wanted a cream filled croissant, not just a paste.

Overall, I'd call this a fine croissant, and nice to have something other than a standard almond one, but, it wasn't an amazing croissant, and the filling was not very generous.  I'd try something else next time, not another croissant.

***.

Cakes

A major focus of Hanabi bakery is cakes.  Full size cream cakes with amazing flavors like the Chestnut Château with mocha butter chiffon cake, chestnut paste, vanilla whipping ganache cream, chestnut chantilly cream, edible gold flakes, roasted chestnuts, chocolate covered espresso beans, and fresh sage leaves.  Mousse cakes like layered uji matcha mousse and coconut mousse with matcha dacquoise.  Stunning mirror glaze creations.  None of these are available at Zero&, but Zero& does carry the individual size "Mini box" cakes.

Mini box cakes come in several different flavors year round, with seasonal specials like pumpkin in the fall and a lunar new year red velvet.  They also even make some gluten-free.

Matcha Jasmine Mini Box. $8.99.

"Uji Matcha Chiffon Cakes, Jasmine Green Tea Whipping Ganache, Uji Matcha Chantilly Cream, White Chocolate Crunchy Pearls."

When I visited, all of the non-gluten free options were caffeinated, with either chocolate components or matcha.  My companion got the matcha one, and it looked amazing.  She ended up not trying it then, opting to take it home for later, so I wasn't able to steal a bite. 

Rose Lychee Mini Box. $8.99. 
Gluten-Free.

"Gluten-Free Vanilla Chiffon, Light Rose Chantilly Cream and Whole Milk Powder, Whole Lychee Fruit, Edible Rose Petals and Edible Gold Flakes."

I didn't want caffeine, and sadly they were sold out of the taro and black sesame ones I was eying, so I took a gamble on the rose lychee box.  I do like rose and lychee, but I was wary of the gluten-free cake base.  

This was ... ok.  I don't think the gluten-free nature was the problem, but I wasn't really a fan of the cake layers.  I realized I don't generally really like chiffon cake.  It was fairly moist, and light, but, boring.  Like angel food cake.  I just never want that kind of light cake.  Bring on the butter please!  

The chantilly cream was lightly sweet and lightly rose flavored, a pretty subtle, lightly floral, fairly lovely flavor.  I liked it.  Within the layers, there were chopped up bits of lychee jellies, like the kind you get in a bubble tea, along with a full lychee split in half on top.  The lychee was sweet in all the right ways.  The rose petals were pretty but I didn't actually like the texture they added.  Mine had only two tiny bits of gold flake.

So overall, the cream was tasty, and I liked the lychee and rose flavors, but, as a layered cake, this wasn't a winner for me.  **+.

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Spice I Am, Surry Hills, Sydney

Update Review, Nov 2023

To me, Thai food is a key selling point of spending time in Sydney.  You've heard me talk about it before. The thai food there is in another realm of existence compared to Thai food in the US (and definitely compared to San Francisco).  Some of it is certainly the access to fresher Southeast Asian ingredients, some of it is certainly the large immigrant population from Thailand, which provides both cooks/chefs to staff the restaurants, but also, they seem to have a customer base that isn't afraid of spice, and, in fact, *wants* it.  Spice levels at most of the Thai restaurants in Sydney are considerably higher than their US counterparts.  And I love it.

So during my recent stay in Sydney, when I was craving spice, Thai delivery it was.  I opted to order from Spice I Am again, as I was curious to try more of the menu again (I used to visit in person years ago, long before I had a blog).  My order was ready *incredibly* quickly, and my Dasher fast and efficient.  From the time I ordered, until it was in my hands, was less than 20 minutes, even though the restaurant is in Surry Hills, and I was staying near Darling Harbor.  

Nam Khao Tod. $27.50.

"Crispy rice salad with Thai sour pork, chilli powder, ground peanut, coriander, red onion, spring onion and mint leaves (serve with lettuce)."

I discovered the concept of crispy rice salad at Mumu in Sydney last year, and I've been on the hunt for it again since, hence my ordering it at Fish Cheeks in NYC this summer.  When I saw it on the Spice I Am menu, it was no question that I wanted to order it.

It came in two containers, with the lettuce separate.  Other crispy rice salads I have had used a big wedge of cabbage, which I really prefer, but this lettuce was fresh and crisp, and I could sorta make lettuce wraps with it, so, just different from a cabbage wedge.

The crispy rice salad was fairly different from the version at Fish Cheeks, even though they were described very similarly.  The Fish Cheeks version had more clumps of rice, with a crispy side to them, but, they were large, so were also mushy in areas.  It also had very bright hunks of the pork sausage, and whole peanuts, and not much in the way of herbs besides the garnish on top.  The Spice I Am version was all smaller bits of rice, some of which were nicely crispy.  There were a few full peanuts, but most were ground and integrated throughout.  The pork was much smaller pieces, and blended in both texturally and color wise with the rest of the dish.  It had more fresh herbs (mint, parsley, etc).  And yes, some legit chilis right on top.  

The dish was cold, which I wasn't expecting.  The delivery was so fast, and it was a hot night, so I think perhaps they really do serve it cold?  I was caught off guard by that.  The textures were good, lots of crispy bits.  The heat level was perfect for me, never too spicy, but enough to slow me down a bit to have a sip of wine.  I did like the funky flavor of the fermented pork bits, and the overall complex sour and spicy notes.

Overall, it was good, but I probably wouldn't get again.  Maybe better served in the restaurant, if it is warm? And a touch more crispy?  Still, I think fairly authentic, and yay for spices.  ***+.

Original Review, March 2020

Sydney has no shortage of excellent Thai restaurants.  It was after my time living there that I realized just how poor the Thai food is in the US (at least, where I've lived).  I've visited all the Sydney institutions by now, including those that have since closed (tears, I miss you Sailor's Thai (particularly the Canteen!!)

This visit to Sydney however, I didn't really have time to go out and dine, and worse, it was raining nearly the entire time, so venturing out to get food one particularly wet evening, after having just gotten back to the hotel from the office, soaking wet, just wasn't appealing.  Thus, delivery it was.  And I knew Thai food would be a solid delivery option - curries hold heat well, there are plenty of interesting chilled dishes, and, well, Sydney has good Thai food.

I took the opportunity to order from Spice I Am, which has been on my list for quite a while, but is known for having long waits.  Definitely known for having seriously authentic Thai food, and the chef has won many awards.  While I did have a wait a while for my order, at least I did it from the comfort of my hotel room!  Delivery was via Deliveroo, as with most places in Sydney.

Thai Feast for One.

I ordered one starter, one salad, and one curry.  Yes, I ordered way too much food for one person in a single sitting.  But since I was getting delivery getting just one dish didn't make sense, and I wanted to have at least two items in case I didn't like one.  Hedge my bets. And I knew it would all keep fine for a few days in my fridge, which, of course I had in my hotel room (along with a microwave of course).

The menu at Spice I Am is quite extensive, and narrowing down on just a few dishes was hard enough.  I was able to easily look past the soups and "Light Meals" - which really seemed like appetizers - but with 9 different salads, 21 "Specials of the Day", 18 stir fries, 8 curries, noodle dishes, rice dishes, and more "Specialties" ... making decisions was hard.

I settled on one "Special of the Day", a dish I knew was a cold dish so would travel well, one salad (which I thought was cold but wasn't!), and one hot main dish.  It was hard to pick just one main hot item, but since I was getting delivery I decided a curry would be better than a stir fry or noodle dish, or any of the specials, as it would hold heat, and not get soggy.

The food was all decent, arrived nicely packaged, and delivered in the spice department as expected.  I wasn't really blown away by anything though, but I have no real complaints.

Mieng Ka Na (With Finger Lime). $19.

"Sweet and sour spicy flossy pork, finger lime, ginger, shallot, and fresh chili. Served with green Chinese broccoli leaf."

First up, my starter: mieng ka na.

This came from the "Specials of the Day" section of the menu, which, as far as I can tell, doesn't actually change with the day.  Of all the dishes I ordered, it was the one I was most eager to try.  It sounded fascinating.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a winner for me.

The idea is you make little wraps with the broccoli leaf.  The leaf part was a success, not a leaf I normally eat raw, and I liked how crisp it was.  I'd love to fill it with other things.

But this filling ... well, it seemed to be 85% coconut?  Coconut wasn't even listed in the ingredients.  I don't mind coconut, but, I wasn't looking for coconut filling.  I wanted flossy pork!  And there was a little bit of flossy pork in there, stringy, savory, and I think good, but, alas, all I could taste was coconut.  There were also chunks of cashew (yay crunch) and good herbs, but I certainly didn't find any of the promised finger lime either.

So ... no finger lime, not much flossy pork, and mostly coconut?  Yeah, meh.  By the forkful it certainly wasn't good, made into wraps it was a little better, and mixed into salad later as leftovers it was best, but I ended up throwing out much of it.  I just didn't enjoy it. *.

This is a cold dish, in case you were wondering.

Yum Pla Krob Salad. $23.

"Salad of Thai herbs with crispy seasoning whitebait, cashew nut, chilli, eschallot, coriander, and mint leaves."

This was a bit of a random order on my part, but I wanted dishes that would hold up well for delivery (so, cold was ideal), and I wanted lighter dishes (given all the decadent consumption I was doing), and, well, I wanted something fresh (so much fried food, way too many ridiculous desserts, and really no fresh veggies or fruits in days!).   So a salad met those requirements.

The salad line up had all sorts of interesting sounding options, and I really was curious about the Nam Khao Tod Salad (crispy rice salad?!), but I decided getting a rice salad wasn't exactly what I was aiming for.  The yum pla krob kept jumping out instead.

I had no idea what this salad would be like however, but, I knew there would be herbs (which I thought would be the dominant ingredient ...), and some fried little fishes?  I couldn't picture it, and I think that made me even more interested.

What I really wasn't expecting was a hot dish though.  I guess it makes sense that it was hot, cold fried little fishes doesn't really sound that appealing now that I think about it, but I was surprised to open my order and find a hot salad.

A tasty hot salad.  Definitely my surprise favorite dish.  But not exactly the lightness nor vegetables I was looking for.

The whitebait were the star attraction, battered in really well seasoned coating, and super crispy.  They were intensely fishy, in a good way.  Crispy fried flavorful little fishes.  Definitely not for everyone but I happen to adore anchovies and sardines, so these were right up my alley.

The "salad" mix did have plenty of herbs, lots of eshallot, mint, and coriander, plus of course chilis.  Oh, and cashews for more crunch, although they weren't needed really at all given the crispy fish.

It all was soaked in some kind of dressing, a bit sweet, a bit sour, and I think fish sauce based.  Extra fishiness.  Very, well, thai, in that there were lots of flavors that were playing together in fascinating and actually balanced ways.

Overall, I enjoyed this, found it totally fascinating, and did really like the crispy fish.  I *did* want some fresh salad though, and ended up pulling baby kale out of my fridge and tossing this with it, and liked it considerably more that way.  I also kinda wanted a mayo or aioli drizzle ... but that is just me really liking fried food and mayo based dipping sauces these days.

My favorite dish, although I preferred my modified salad version.  ***+.

I saved the leftovers, and enjoyed all the non-fish bits cold the next day, they really soaked up the flavorful spices, and the batter on the fish was actually *very* tasty at that point, although soft and soggy.  As I suspected, the cold fried leftover little fishes weren't good, but I may have sucked off a bunch of the batter, and really enjoyed it ...

Green Curry, Vegetable. $18.

"Traditional green chili curry with Thai eggplant and pork blood jelly."

For my curry, I kinda wanted the red curry.  I kinda wanted the yellow curry (I had a fantastic yellow curry a few days prior that I couldn't get out of my head).  I was tempted by the special duck curry.  But I went for green curry, fascinated by the addition of "pork blood jelly".  Is that ... traditional?  I had no idea.

I knew I didn't want chicken or pork, and although I like beef it isn't my top choice for green curry.  I almost splurged (+$7) for the seafood, but I actually often dislike calamari in Sydney, and wasn't really sure what was included in the seafood mix.  The prawn option was also $7 and I wasn't excited by it, so, veggie I went.   I often find that I somehow eat very few vegetables when I'm in Sydney, so this also seemed like a good thing.  Plus, veggie soak up curry well!

I didn't realize that veggie mean tofu, so I was sad when I saw the big triangles of tofu (I don't like it), but, I hope it also had more interesting vegetables in it than the others?  It did have a decent assortment:green beans, carrots, button mushrooms, and other mushrooms, in addition to the thai eggplant.  The veggies were all cooked fine, nothing mushy, nothing too crisp.  I can't say the veggies were remarkable or interesting, but nothing wrong with them.

The curry was ... spicy.  As I expected.  I knew Spice I Am is known for being authentic, and they don't have spice levels, so, spicy I expected.  The visible red chilis were only part of the heat.  The coconut milk and strong aromatics in the curry helped balance the heat though, and I didn't find it overwhelming. There was plenty of lemongrass I believe?

As you can see, it was fairly oily, which wasn't pleasant to see, but it didn't actually taste oily.

Overall, it was fine.  Spicy, well prepared, and I really did like all the herbs and fragrance to it. It didn't strike me as remarkable though, and to be honest, I liked the green curry I had a few days prior elsewhere more.  My least favorite dish.  I appreciated that this was packaged with additional plastic wrap around it to not make a mess. **+.

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Popcorn Factory Popcorn

Update Review - 2023

I've previously reviewed popcorn tins from Popcorn Factory, generally sent around the Christmas holidays, but this year, we were gifted some goodies at Easter, and they were a bit more unique than the classic popcorn tin.

Popcorn Eggs: Blue Raspberry, Purple Grape, Pink Strawberry, Yellow Lemon.

First up, the popcorn "eggs".

Yellow (Lemon):

When I tried this, I didn't realize the color meant anything.  I thought it was just yellow for Easter.  And I thought it was just a rice crispy treat.

I was wrong in so many levels.  And pleasantly surprised.

The yellow one was ... lemon.  Distinctly lemon.  No question.

And it was not a sticky rice crispy treat, but rather hard coated candy popcorn.  Um, yum?

Lemon is never my first choice of flavor, but this inspired me to try other colors. ***.

Pink (Strawberry):

So I eagerly moved on to the pink one, which promised to be strawberry.  Now that was a flavor I could get behind!

I ... didn't love it though.  I'm not entirely sure why.  It was sweet candy coated popcorn.  I like that, in general, but here it actually was just too sweet, too much.  It was vaguely strawberry flavored.  Also a good thing.  But ... I wasn't into it. **+.

Purple (Grape):

The purple one was the least flavored of them all, not much "grape" detectable, if any, really.  But the overall item was better than the others, although still, just too much sweet.  I think part of why I love coated popcorns is the constant seeking out of a balance of really well coated super sweet pieces and ones that are less coated (or, salty/savory/etc) and here it was just ... all sweet.  So much sweet. ***/

Bunny Corn.

Next up, "bunny corn", or, pearly candy corn.

These were pretty.  Shiny, pastel colors.  I thought that they might not taste like regular candy corn, but alas, just candy corn.  Pretty candy corn, but, pure sugar, and, I can't say I really like candy corn.  **.

Update Review - June 2017

My past experiences of The Popcorn Factory have all be of their giant tins of popcorn that show up around the holidays.  I adored the cheese popcorn last time I had it, and liked the caramel corn quite a bit, as you can go read about in that original review.

It turns out, The Popcorn Factory also makes popcorn that is distributed as part of gift boxes.  And just like those tins, folks tend to bring these to the office to get rid of the items they aren't excited about.  I'm not sure why no one is excited about popcorn like me, but, their loss, my gain!

I was thrilled to see a flavor I hadn't yet tried: kettle corn! (Side note: if you ever go to New Hampshire during the summer, and want the best kettle corn ever, let me know, and I'll tell you all about the best little kettle corn stand that pops up at farmer's markets.  It is the best ever, seriously, and I always bring home suitcases full, which I then store in the freezer, and enjoy year round.  Soooo good).  Sadly, The Popcorn Factory kettle corn was not for me.

I'd still love to try more of their flavors though, as the base product is good, and they have some awesome sounding options, like savory buffalo ranch or bacon cheddar.   Or sweet peanut brittle or pumpkin caramel praline crunch.  Or the crazy decadent drizzled birthday confetti or dark chocolate cherry cordial.  So many choices.

Kettle Corn.

"Our premium, all-natural Kettle corn is the best of both worlds-it's a little bit salty and a whole lot of crunchy sweetness. (It's so tasty, we use it as a base for many of our signature flavors, too!) Each bite reminds you of why you love popcorn as much as we do. "

This "kettle corn" made me angry.  Kettle corn is supposed to be lighter than caramel corn.  It is not supposed to be nearly as sweet.  It should be a magical hybrid of buttery popcorn that is a touch sweet and definitely salty.

But this ... this was caramel corn.  I did not detect any salt.  And the kernels were absolutely coated in sugar/corn syrup, making it just as sweet, and just as glazed, as any caramel corn.  If I didn't know better, I'd honestly think they accidentally packaged up the wrong popcorn and put it in the box.  

I actually looked this up, and found that an ounce of the caramel corn has 14 grams of sugar, and an ounce of this kettle corn has 16 grams.   Yes, it is more sugary than the caramel corn.  That is not right!

To be fair, the popcorn was good, the kernels well coated, but, grumble, not kettle corn.  A friend tried one bite and he too also exclaimed, "This isn't really kettle corn!"  As kettle corn? *.  As caramel corn?  ***.

Original Review, May 216

ZOMG, popcorn.  Yes, I have a problem with popcorn.  I'm obsessed, and I freely admit it.  It is my favorite of all snack foods.  But ... I don't actually really like standard microwave butter popcorn.  Or even movie theater popcorn.  

No, this doesn't mean that I like high brow popcorn, just, that I like it savory or sweet, with interesting flavors.  (And, strangely, I usually like it frozen.  Seriously.  Try it sometime, particularly caramel corn.  It gets even crispier!  And it lasts forever!)

Peek-A-Boo Snowman Popcorn Tin, 3.5 Gallon, 3-Flavor.  $39.

So, you know that time of year, when people get those popcorn tins from clients?  The ones they groan about, and bring to the office, and hope someone else will eat it?

That happens to be my favorite time of year.  (And not just for the popcorn tins!)

Every year, without fail, a few of these wind up around our office.  This year, one tin was from Popcorn Factory, as it has been in past years, but I never bothered write up a review before.

This time, I finally snapped a pic.  Behold: the tin!

Popcorn Factory is an online retailer of popcorn tins, gift baskets, and the like.  Generally used for corporate gifting, last minute Father's day gifts, etc.  They offer all your classic savory popcorns (butter, cheese, white cheddar, etc) and sweet (caramel, kettle, etc), but also like 30 other flavors including the fascinating sounding fruit flavors like sour green apple (also, um, its bright green!), crazy combos like butter toffee almond with pretzels, and a birthday flavor with sugar drizzle and rainbow sprinkles that I really really want to try.

Of course, no one sends the fun flavors, they stick with the classics, so that is what I was able to try.

Cheese Popcorn / Caramel Popcorn / Butter Popcorn.

Inside the tin was 3 varieties, all divided by a cardboard insert: cheese, caramel, and butter.  All you folks who actually like butter popcorn can have that one, while the savory cheese one and the sweet caramel corn can be mine, all mine!

The tin is also available in a 4 flavor version, with the addition of white cheddar popcorn.

My reviews, in order of preference (least to best):

Butter Popcorn: "The popcorn classic with freshly popped kernels and buttery deliciousness."
I tried it, just for trying it sake, but, well, yes, it was just butter popcorn.  Not fresh, not hot, why on earth would I ever want this?  I left it all for the rest of you, who seemed to devour it.  No one else touched the ones I kept returning for. **+.

Caramel Popcorn: "Super crunchy and super delicious, one of our most popular popcorn recipes."

I fully expected the caramel popcorn to be my favorite.  And I did like it, I easily polished off the rest of the tin.  Each and every kernel was very well coated in caramel.  It was crispy.  Nice buttery caramel flavor, not the burnt caramel flavor you sometimes get.  Good, sweet, satisfying.  But the best was yet to come. ***+.

Cheese Popcorn: "A must for any popcorn fan. When you think of cheese popcorn, this is it!"
Huzzah!  Now this, this was amazing.  Like the others, the kernels were perfectly coated, no kernel left behind untouched.  It was so cheesy, in that fake cheese that you-know-you-love way.  It coated my fingers and left them orange.  You can bet I licked them clean.  I loved this.  It mixed nicely with the caramel corn for a sweet and savory combo, but really, it was just fantastic on its own.  I wasn't even tempted to freeze this one! ****+.

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One65 Patisserie

In 2019, a new French inspired dining destination opened in SF, right near Union Square: One65.

"ONE65 is an innovative multi-level culinary destination with French flair that offers four distinct modern dining experiences under one roof and is the vision of James Beard Award-winning Chef/Partner Claude Le Tohic. Ranging from casual to fine dining, each floor showcases its own individual concept and design. Everything at ONE65 is made in-house, from gourmet ice cream to beautiful loaves of fresh-baked bread."

One65 is not a single restaurant, but rather, an entire multi-story building.  On the ground floor is the one that first called out to me: the patisserie.  Above that is the Bistro & Grill on second and third floors, Elements bar & lounge on the fourth, and O by Claude Le Tohic on the top two.  The venues get progressively more formal as you ascend.  But I started with the patisserie, as, well, I sure do have a sweet tooth and enjoy my desserts.

Individual Desserts.

Walking in to the patisserie you are met with display case after display case featuring a line up of elaborate individual desserts.  No descriptions are given, but staff members are abundant behind the counter to tell you al about them.

There are options for those looking for something decadent and chocolate, and those wanting light and fruity, and everything in-between.

Pastries.

If pastries are more your craving, there are cases and cases of those too.  Classic croissants and danishes to more elaborate brioches and layered creations.

Everything looks incredible, and fairly top notch.  Making decisions here is ... near impossible.

The cafe portion of this space also does serve breakfast items like a french omelette, french toast, croissant eggs benny, or handful of tartines, and lunch selections range from paninis and flatbreads to bugers, wagyu meatballs, or even black cod.  A small amount of indoor and outdoor sidewalk seating is available.

I've now enjoyed their treats twice: once for delivery, and one dine-in.  I'll gladly return to try more.

Fancy Carrier.

My order arrived in a fancy, but not practical, carrier.  It was just for transport, I could't really store my item for later in it, as it wasn't air tight (and, it was also huge).

Lemon Yuzu Cake. $10.

"Lemon jelly, yuzu cream, lemon biscuit, lemon ganache, croustillant."

The fancy carrier did not prevent my cake from topping over in transit.  I didn't really mind, but, it was a bit funny to open such a fancy thing and see the slight carnage.

This was my first dessert from One65, and although I knew they get great reviews, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  And yes, if you know me, you know I don't generally go for citrus desserts, but, I think I've turned a corner on that front, mostly due to actually liking a key lime item from Fillings & Emulsions in the Salt Lake City airport (zomg, so good!), and for some reason, out of all the amazing sounding items, somehow, the lemon yuzu cake called out to me.

The description gave me a decent idea what to expect, but, it still was a bit different than I anticipated.

The base was a thick biscuit.  I didn't actually taste the lemon in this element, but it was sweet, crumbly, and more dominant than I really liked.  It was easily 1/3 or more of the cake, not a thin base just to provide structure.  Not being a cookie girl, the significant impact this had on the eating experience wasn't ideal for me.  It was also really quite sweet.

Above that was a very thin, slightly dry, plain cake layer.  I didn't even notice this layer until midway through eating it, because it was so easily lost with the thicker base.

Above that was a cream layer, and it was citrus-y, I guess yuzu.  Lightly sweet, lightly tart, enjoyable enough.  The sides coated in what seemed like thin lemon flavored white chocolate, I suspect this is the lemon ganache they refer to.  I liked the sweetness and crunch.  There was some decoration on top as well - a little white chocolate, a tiny wafer, and a thin line of citrus jelly.  I think that very minimal decorative line was the only citrus jelly in it, and I had certainly expected more, and think it would have benefited from a more intense hit of citrus.

Overall, the components of this were all fine, but it didn't wow me, and again, it was just too cookie (er, biscuit) heavy for me.  ***.

Zephyr Exotic. $15.
Special Collab with guest chef.

When we visited in person a few months later, my co-worker went for the Zephyr Exotic, which was a limited special with a visiting pastry chef, available for two days only.  It had a coconut biscuit base, was covered in remarkably light and fluffy coconut mousse, which in turn wrapped mango banana crèmeux, with passion fruit confit in the center.  I of course stole a bite, after he was exclaiming at how unexpected the consistency was.  I think we both expected it to either be a shell, or maybe meringue, but it was just light-as-air mousse.  

I was a bit let down by the flavors however - I expected a stronger coconut flavor, as it was quite subtle.  The passionfruit was strong when you got some of the confit from the center.  Overall, fun textures, very beautiful, but not as flavorful as I was hoping. ***.

Mignardises. $10.

Because I hate making decisions, I was pretty thrilled to see the mignardises offerings, each with 5 assorted bites.  They had several different assortments, I picked this one for one reason: it had a chestnut item!  The others did not.

Other options did include more chocolate forward items, or mini cream puffs, etc, but mine was all a collection of assorted mousses, with incredible complexity in every single one.  Not only were they adorable, but, wow, there was a lot going on technique-wise to craft these tiny bites.  At $2 per piece, this seemed more than reasonable.  

I enjoyed my platter of bites, and would recommend this as a great way to sample several items, unless you really clearly know what else you'd like.

Chocolate Cherry.

The cherry was an obvious looker.  Yes, it looked like a cherry at first glance, a chocolate coated one of course, but on closer inspection one could see that this was actually not a cherry at all.  Instead it had all
the elements of their larger black forest dessert, with chocolate ganache and black cherry confit inside, dipped in a chocolate shell, with a chocolate stem and of course a flourish of gold leaf.

Creamy, chocolately, good cherry flavor.  The chocolate shell had a nice snap.  A fun item.  ***+.

Individual Size Desserts - including Black Forest.

Here you can see the cherry mignardise, perched on top of the black forest, just one of many elements that go into making the full size (individual) dessert.

Chocolate Mandarin.

The chocolate mandarin box mirrors their latest croissant, which comes with mandarin jam, blood orange & vanilla toasted meringue.   Here we had a chocolate sponge base, mandarin-vanilla crémeux, mandarin jam, vanilla meringue, all in a chocolate box shell with edible gold leaf and chocolate decoration.

The mandarin flavor was strong, due to the jam, which made it very vibrant. The meringue surprised me, as I wasn't expecting it, and thought that was just a vanilla cream on top.  It was light and fluffy, and quite delicate.  And then chocolate elements of course. Mandarin and chocolate are a standard pairing, e.g. those chocolate oranges at Christmas, so this worked.

Overall every element was well made, it tasted fresh, but wasn't really flavors I'm drawn to, and wouldn't really want again.  ***.

Chocolate Raspberry.

Fruity goodness!  This is a mini version of their full size 6" Chocolate Raspberry Cake, which has dark chocolate raspberry mousse, vanilla crème brûlée, raspberry confit, and chocolate sponge.

This one was less complicated than some of the others, but I really enjoyed it.  The dome was the dark chocolate raspberry mousse, thick, rich, sweet, lovely raspberry flavor.  The mirror glaze of raspberry confit was even more intensely fruity, but not cloying, again, lovely raspberry flavor. 

Rather than a chocolate sponge cake base as the full size item has, it was all perched on a crispy little biscuit with crunchy bits in it - hazelnut sable perhaps?  The texture was fantastic, and the crunch from the biscuit and the creamy dome were a lovely combo.  Tiny dot of vanilla crème brûlée on top, a piece of fresh raspberry, and gold leaf sealed the deal for an incredible bite.

This was absolutely incredible, and I'd get it again, in full size, in a heartbeat.  Perfection really. *****.

Yuzu?

Next up, another one that was less complicated, same formula as the previous:  a dome of thick mousse, with a surrounding fruity sweet mirror glaze, perched on top the same crispy biscuit.  I think this one was yuzu, at first I thought lemon, then orange.  Citrusy, but not nearly as strong of flavors, in the mousse or glaze, as the raspberry one.  By my second bite, I actually thought it might be mango passionfruit, but, just not an intense mango nor passionfruit.  I'm still not sure what it was.

This was fine, and enjoyable bite, and I again really did love the biscuit base (so crunchy! So nutty!), but the flavors were more muted than the previous bite.  ***+.

Chestnut?  Vanilla?

I saved the one I was most excited for for last, the chestnut.  At this point, I knew what to expect, as it had the same awesomely crunchy nutty biscuit base, and I expected a chestnut flavored ganache dome, with chestnut glaze around it.  Bonus points for the even fancier (white) chocolate work here, and the edible silver leaf (instead of gold).

One65 doesn't currently have a chestnut dessert on the menu, but in the winter, they had one with vanilla, chestnut whipped ganache, and chestnut confit, and I hoped this would be a mini version of that in some way.  I really like chestnut, and it is rare to see it on menus.

I didn't really taste chestnut.  This wasn't a bad treat, but, I would have never thought it was chestnut if it hadn't been described that way by the server.  I still wonder if they were incorrect.  To me, it was vanilla - not a bad thing, it was creamy, lightly sweet, and pleasant ganache-mousse inside, and a sweet and creamy white chocolate shell, but, I just didn't taste the chestnut I was looking for.  One65 makes a vanilla chantilly individual dessert with vanilla mousse and vanilla cremeux, that looks fairly similar to this, just, much bigger.  

So, this was fine.  Sweet and creamy, same great biscuit base, but, I was let down because I expected chestnut.  ***.

Drip Coffee. $3.50.

With a Yelp checkin, you can get a free drip coffee.  It was served in a cappuccino mug, so quickly got cool, but otherwise was decent enough coffee.  Not remarkable, but not too bitter nor acidic, didn't taste old.  ***.

Espresso. $3.25.

I also had an espresso to go.  The espresso was quite strong, a bit bitter.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. Pretty average. ***.

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Lillie's of Charleston Gullah Pop

Regular readers of my blog will know how much I adore snacks, in particular, popcorn.  I'm always eager to try more brands, particularly ones with interesting flavors.  My seeking out of interesting popcorn lead me to Lillie's of Charleston.

Lillie's of Charleston isn't primarily a popcorn distributor, but rather, they make hot sauces, BBQ sauces, and spice mixes.  The use their spice mixed however to create a line of 3 popcorns, known as "Gullah Pop".

"Get ready to experience the taste of the South with Gullah Pop's gourmet popcorns. These tasty treats are made with organic and non-GMO popcorn that's popped to perfection in pure coconut oil. The popcorn is then coated in our 100% natural seasoning blends to create a unique and irresistible flavor explosion that'll leave you wanting more."

You can only buy the Gullah Pop as a trio of flavors, so, I tried them all.  I was highly underwhelmed by them all -  the flavors were muted, the popcorn mediocre.  I wouldn't get these again, but did finish all my bags with no problem.

Savory Flavor: Ho-Lotta Hissy Fit.

"For a spicy kick."

First up, the spicy one: Ho-Latta Hissy Fit.

This was ok, but not great.  The popcorn itself wasn't remarkable, pretty average size kernels, average texture.  The seasoning wasn't as strong as I'd like, which is sad as it was flavorful enough seasoning, but, even though some pieces looked pretty coated, it didn't have much flavor.

I'm not quite sure what the seasoning was, as the ingredients just say "spice" and "salt", along with popcorn and coconut oil, but the flavor was lightly bbq flavored, more mild than most bbq chips.  A faint hint of something spicy.

So, overall, average popcorn, mild seasoning.  Eh.  No reason to get this again.  Low ***.

Haut Pimento Cheese.

"For some cheesy goodness." 

Next up, "haut" pimento cheese.  I felt much the same way about this as the previous.  It was ok, but not actually anything worth getting again.  The popcorn was unremarkable, the seasoning was medium-strong on some pieces, but lacking on many.  It was very vaguely cheesy, and I didn't taste anything "haut" or pimento about it, although I guess it had paprika.  

Just very mild average popcorn. **+.

Lemon Peppa.

"For a zesty twist."

The last flavor I tried was the one I was least excited for, Lemon Peppa.  It turned out to be the only one that actually delivered much flavor.  That said, I didn't particularly like the flavor.

It was very ... vibrant?  Lots of zing/zest, which I could somewhat imagine saying was lemon-like.  A bit of pepper too.  And, it was the only one of the trio that I could really taste the coconut oil used.  If you like lemon, pepper, and coconut oil, this one at least really did have some flavor to it.  The popcorn itself was average, but, zing it did have.

Still just a **+ for me as the flavors weren't ones I really care for, but, better than the others in actually having flavor.

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